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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.
Click here to report a problem with this page.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Sophie Fabian <sophiefbn@outlook.com>
Reply-To: Sophie Fabian <mrs.sophiefbn@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2017 05:19:54 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Greetings Dear
Greetings Dear
I am Mrs. Sophie Fabian 60 years of age. I'm writing you this mail with a lot of pains after many days of examining my heart. I have been battling with cancer that has reached the final stage and knowing my fate, I decided to donate all my savings to help people in need in hope that the eternal lord will grant me peace in his kingdom. I need an honest and trustworthy and god fearing individual that will use this money to help people with terminal disease, sponsor orphanages, help women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. If you know you can handle this responsibility in all honesty without fail, please get back to me immediately for more detail and specific instructions.
Mrs. Sophie Fabian
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Anti-fraud resources:
